What is an urgent translation?
Our London office is getting a lot of inquiries about urgent translation services. We would like to talk about this service and its advantages and disadvantages.
When it comes to the document translation there is always sense of urgency, but one should remember that it takes certain steps to prepare certified translation:
- Understanding the order ( requirements, level of certification, extra legalisation )
- Order management ( authorization of the job, allocation to the translator, payment collection )
- Translation and Proofread ( each translation has to be proofread by an independent proofreaders )
- Preparation of the document ( putting it together – translation, copy of the original, statutory declaration of the translator )
- Further legalisation, if needed. ( solicitor, notary, consular legalisation, apostille )
QUALITY TRANSLATION
We only work with the best linguists around the world, ensuring 100% quality and unbeatable completion time
As we can see, it is not always physically possible to do something like this in one hour.
The so-called "urgent" translation is a relative term that not every translator or translation bureau would use. Many companies and freelance translators work (at least with established clients) for fixed previously agreed rates. That is why the issue of urgency and additional costs associated therewith does not arise. Generally speaking, in the business of technical translations there are unfortunately no or very few "not urgent" translations.
Most orders are urgent. An urgent translation is considered to be any translation with a tight deadline that requires the translator to work quicker at a risk to quality of the work, his / her health and sight (especially if the text is small and the translator has to work late into the night to complete the order within the deadline). Be it a question of 20 pages in one day, 10 pages from the evening until 11 am the following morning, 2-3 pages within 1-2 hours or even 1 page immediately within 20-30 minutes; it is all urgent translation work, irrespective of the complexity of the text or one's efforts to reproduce images and tables in the document.
Not every translation, however, can be completed urgently within the shortest time-frame. On the other hand, formally speaking, "urgent" translation is sometimes defined as any translation when looking at the volume of work that a qualified translator is in a position to translate. Please note, some agencies may at the beginning quote a reasonable low rate, but when discussing deadlines with the client, they suggest a double rate even when it comes to translating 5 pages in three days. As a translation bureau, in order to ensure quality, make every effort to give your translator(s) reasonable deadlines. For example, for complex texts – 5-7 pages per working day (7-9 hours); for simpler standard texts – maximum 10-15 pages a day (10-12 working hours).
This way qualified and professional translators would be more willing to work with you and you would certainly be more satisfied with their work.
We would definitely agree with the above and would only add that in order to avoid similar situations – Some agencies may at the beginning quote a reasonable low rate, but when discussing deadlines with the client, they suggest a double rate even when it comes to translating 5 pages in three days – it is best to inquire with the agency in advance about their standard translation workload. As a rule, as stated above it is 5-7 pages a day. Furthermore, add a couple of hours or even days on top of that (depending on the volume) for proofread and corrections. Proofread is in fact one of the advantages of working with a translation bureau as opposed to a freelance translator directly, because it allows to spot mistakes and errors arising as a result of lack of attention.
For an urgent translation orders please call us on: 07999744743 or email: info@docsbase.com
